Methods for dynamically assigning link addresses and logical network addresses

ABSTRACT

An asymmetrical network for coupling customer-premises Internet hosts such as personal computers to the Internet. The head end of a CATV system has a high-bandwidth connection to the Internet. The down link connecting the personal computers to the Internet is the cables provided by the CATV system; the up link is a telephone connection to the head end. A router is connected to the down link by means of a RF modem, to the up link by means of an analog modem, and to a LAN which is connected to the Pcs. The router routes IP packets for the hosts that are received on the CATV cable to the hosts via the LAN; it routes IP packets from the hosts that are destined for the Internet to the head end via the telephone line. The asymmetrical network conserves IP addresses and addresses on the CATV cable by dynamically allocating the IP addresses for an RF modem&#39;s hosts and an address on the CATV cable for the RF modem in response to a request made by the RF modem via the telephone line. It further saves IP addresses by assigning a non-unique IP address to the router for use inside the LAN. When the CATV system fails, the asymmetrical network automatically begins to use the telephone line as both the up link and the down link, and when the CATV system is restored, the asymmetrical network automatically returns to using the CATV cable as the down link and the telephone line as the up link. A further feature of the asymmetrical network is that the head end components and the RF modem have IP addresses, so that standard TCP/IP protocols can be used to control the asymmetrical network.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/843,061, which was filed Apr. 11, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,656which claimed the priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/035,618, filed Jan. 17, 1997, which was one of 10 patent applicationsdirected to the cable data network system disclosed in the aboveProvisional Application that were filed on the same day. The 10 patentapplications are listed by (former) attorney docket numbers and title intwo groups. The seven in the first group all have the same DetailedDescription.

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/833,198, U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,058, Apparatusand Methods for Automatically Rerouting Packets in the Event of a LinkFailure

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/837,073, U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,223, Method ofUsing Routing protocols to Reroute Packets during a link Failure

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/843,061, U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,656, Methodsfor Dynamically Assigning Link Addresses and Logical Network Addresses

U.S. application Ser. No. 08,843,056, U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,455, Routerwhich Dynamically Requests a Set of Logical Network Addresses and AssignAddresses in the Set to Hosts Connected to the Router

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/838,833, U.S. Pat. No. 6,618,353, Routerfor Use with a Link that has a Set of Concurrent Channels

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/832,714, U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,298, Method ofDynamically Assigning A Logical Network Address and a Link Address

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/840,304, U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,523, Routerfor which a Logical Network Address which is not Unique to the Router isthe Gateway Address in Default Routing Table Entries

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/835,917, U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,328, UsageStatistics Collection for a Cable Data Delivery System

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/835,916, U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,267,Two-Tiered Authorization And Authentication for a Cable Data DeliverySystem

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/835,966, U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,819, Systemand Method for Detecting Correcting and Discarding Corrupted DataPackets in a Cable Data Delivery System

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns data networks generally and more particularlyconcerns data networks that employ protocols belonging to the TCP/IPprotocol suite and data networks that are asymmetric, that is, datanetworks in which there is more capacity to move data in one directionthan there is in the reverse direction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In the not-too-distant past, images could be processed and displayedonly by large, special-purpose computer systems. Owners of lower-costand less-powerful computers such as personal computers had to contentthemselves with character-based displays. The cost of memory has droppedso quickly and the power of microprocessors has increased so greatly inrecent years, however, that modern personal computers are completelycapable of processing and displaying images. Indeed, modern graphicaluser interfaces depend to a large extend on this capability.

Frustratingly enough for users of personal computers, the old problemswith images have returned in another area, namely network computing. Innetwork computing, the personal computer or work station is connected toa network and is able to use the network to fetch the data it isprocessing from remote locations. The most recent development in networkcomputing is the Internet, a world-wide logical network which permitsanyone who has access to the Internet to interactively fetch dataincluding images from just about anywhere in the world. For example,using the Internet, it is possible to fetch pictures of the latestrestoration projects in Florence, Italy from that city's home page onthe World Wide Web.

The main drawback to interactively fetching data on the Internet is thelength of time it takes to retrieve and display images. The problem isso serious that many people set up the program they use to access theInternet so that it does not fetch images. Doing this restricts the userto character data, but greatly decreases the time it takes to accessinformation. The bottleneck in retrieving images from the Internet isnot the personal computer, but rather the lack of capacity or bandwidthof the networks over which the images must be fetched. One part of thenetwork where bandwidth is particularly restricted is the analogtelephone line that connects most PC users to the Internet. It has beenknown for years that the bandwidth of the telephone system can beincreased by replacing the analog system with a digital system, but allof the known techniques for doing this require extensive modification ofthe telephone system.

A great many homes do in fact have a high bandwidth connection, namelythat provided by cable television. The problem with this connection isthat it is one way. A PC may receive data via a home's CATV cable, butit cannot use the cable to send data. Again, ways of making the CATVsystem bidirectional have been known for years. For example, in theearly 1980's, Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. introduced and marketed a productknown as the Model 6404 Broadband Data Modem for use with bidirectionalCATV systems. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. has also recently filed U.S.patent application Ser. No. 08/627,062, filed Apr. 3, 1966, Ser. No.08/732,668, filed Oct. 16, 1996, and a continuation-in-part titledSystem and Method for Providing Statistics for Flexible Billing in aCable Environment, Koperda, et al., filed Mar. 14, 1997 which describebidirectional CATV systems. As with the telephone systems, the problemhere is not the technology, but the fact that its introduction requiresextensive modification of most existing CATV systems.

Given that many homes have a CATV cable and virtually all homes have ananalog telephone line, systems have been proposed in which the CATVcable is used to send data from the Internet to the PC and the telephoneline used to return data from the PC to the Internet. These systems takeadvantage of the fact that by far the most common pattern of interactionbetween users and networks is for the user to retrieve a large amount ofdata over the network, for example an image of a restored art work fromFlorence, examine the image, and then send a few keystrokes over thenetwork. With this kind of interaction, far less bandwidth is needed inthe channel that is used to return the keystrokes than in the channelthat is used to fetch the image.

An example of such a system is the one disclosed in Moura et al.,Asymmetric Hybrid Access System and Method, U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,121,issued Dec. 17, 1996, and in Moura et al., Remote Link Adapter for usein TV Broadcast Data Transmission System, U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,304,issued Sep. 13, 1994. In this system, the head end of a cable system hashigh bandwidth access to the Internet or to other networks and accessvia CATV cables and the telephone system to households or businesseswith PCs. Data received from these networks is sent to PCs connected tothe cable system's cables and responses from the PCs are collected viathe telephone system and sent to the network. In the home or business,the PC is connected either directly or via a local area network to adevice which includes both a radio frequency modem and a standard analogtelephone modem. The radio frequency modem is connected to the CATVcable. It receives and decodes the data sent on the CATV cable andprovides it to the PC. The telephone modem is connected to a standardtelephone line. It receives data from the PC and sends it to the CATVhead end, which in turn forwards it to the Internet or other networks.

While systems such as the one disclosed in the Moura references doprovide a solution to the bandwidth problem, they have a number ofdeficiencies, particularly when used in the context of the Internet.Among the deficiencies are the following:

The system of Moura wastes Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for thecomputers attached to the modem. IP addresses are in short supply. Inthe system of Moura, however, IP addresses are statically assigned tothe PCs and are consequently not available for reuse when a PC is idleor not engaged in an activity which involves network access.

From the point of view of the Internet, the system of Moura is a linklevel system, that is, the components of the system of Moura do notthemselves have IP addresses and cannot themselves execute IP protocols.In particular, IP routing is not used within the system of Moura. Onedifficulty arising from this situation is that IP routing is centralizedin the IP router that connects the head end to the Internet; another isthat the modem in the system of Moura cannot function as an IP router.

In Moura, the telephone connection to the modem is used solely totransfer data from the PC and modem to the head end. All data receivedby the PC and modem is sent via the CATV cable. Consequently, when theCATV system fails, the PC is left without a connection by which it canreceive data. This situation is made even less desirable by the factthat CATV systems are far more likely to fail than the telephone system.

The CATV channel to which the modem of Moura responds is staticallyassigned to a given modem, thereby rendering the channel unavailable foruse by other modems when the PC connected to the given modem is idle oris not engaged in an activity which involves network access.

It is an object of the system disclosed herein to overcome the precedingand other deficiencies of systems like that of Moura.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problem of wasting IP addresses and link addresses by staticallyassigning them to hosts and cable modems is solved as follows: when thecable router becomes active, it first reads data from the CATV cablefrom which the CATV system can determine the CATV cable the cable routeris attached to. The cable router then sends a message containing thisinformation via the telephone line to the head end, which assigns a setof IP addresses for the PCs connected to the cable router and a linkaddress for the cable router on the cable and sends a message containingthe set of IP addresses and the link address to the cable router. Thecable router then begins listening to the cable at the link address andresponds to requests by the hosts for IP addresses by assigning them IPaddresses from the set.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the arts to which the invention pertains upon perusing thefollowing Detailed Description and Drawing, wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is an overview of the physical components of the cable datanetwork disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 shows the logical networks to which the IP addresses used in thecable data network belong;

FIG. 3 shows an IP datagram and an Ethernet frame as they are employedin a preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows the channels, superframes, and superpackets used to carrydata on the RF link in the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the RF modememployed in the cable data network;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the IP addresses and subnetwork masks employed inthe cable data network;

FIG. 7 is a diagram that shows how the RF modem receives IP addressesand a <channel,pipe,link ID> triple when the RF modem becomes active;

FIG. 8 is a diagram that shows how IP packets addressed to hosts arererouted via the telephone network when the RF modem detects a failurein the RF link;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of routing tables for router 101, modem pool 135, RFmodem 106, and communications manager 102;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of the ARP cache for communications manager 102,

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a routing table and an ARP cache for a host 108;and

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing how IP addresses and <channel,pipe,LinkID>triples are dynamically assigned.

The reference numbers in the drawings have at least three digits. Thetwo rightmost digits are reference numbers within a figure; the digitsto the left of those digits are the number of the figure in which theitem identified by the reference number first appears. For example, anitem with reference number 203 first appears in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following Detailed Description will begin with an overview ofInternet protocol packets (datagrams) and of the IP addressingarchitecture employed in the cable data network of the preferredembodiment and will then describe the physical components of the cabledata network of the preferred embodiment. Thereupon the discussion willshow how IP addresses are mapped onto these components, how IP addressesare assigned to the components, and how routing of IP packets may bedynamically changed in response to failure of an RF link.

Internet Protocol Packets (Data Grams): FIG. 3

FIG. 3 shows those parts of an Internet protocol (IP) packet or datagram301 that are required to understand the following discussion. An IPpacket 301 has two main parts, header 303, which carries controlinformation about the packet, and data 305, which is the data beingtransported in the packet. Header 303 has a fixed format and length,while data 305 may have a varying length. All that need be known aboutthe contents of header 303 for the present discussion is that itcontains two 32-bit Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, one of which, DESTIPA 307 specifies a destination in the Internet to which IP packet 301is to be delivered, and the other of which, SRC IPA 309, specifies thesource in the Internet of packet 301. Sources and destinations ofInternet packets 301 are termed herein Internet hosts. An Internet hostis an entity in a network which has an IP address and which is capableof responding to at least some of the protocols in the TCP/IP protocolsuite. For details on IP addressing and the protocols of the TCP/IPprotocol suite, see W Richard Stevens, TCP/IP Illustrated: TheProtocols, Addison-Wesley, 1994, which is hereby incorporated byreference into this patent application.

The Internet is a logical network, not a physical network. Internetpackets 301 are transported across a variety of different physicalnetworks. While an Internet packet 301 is in a given physical network,it is transported in the same fashion that the physical networktransports any kind of data. For example, one common kind of physicalnetwork is a LAN that uses the 10 base T protocol. One example of such aLAN is a LAN that uses the Ethernet® protocol developed by XeroxCorporation. In the Ethernet protocol, data moves in packets calledframes. Each frame has a preamble 313, a destination Ethernet address315, a source Ethernet address 317, an ethertype field, which specifiesa type of the protocol, a data field 321, which carries the data, and aframe check sequence 323, which is an error checking code. When anEthernet frame 311 is carrying an IP datagram 301, IP datagram 301simply occupies data field 321. It is worth pointing out here that theEthernet protocol does not examine the contents of IP datagram 301.There may of course be many levels of protocols between an IP datagram301 and the physical medium upon which the IP datagram is beingtransported. In the following, only the next level down from the IPlevel is of concern, and this level is termed generically the linklevel, with the addresses at that level being termed link addresses.Thus, if the link level employs the Ethernet protocol, the linkaddresses are DA 315 and SA 317.

The IP Addressing and Routing Architecture

The IP addressing and routing architecture of the cable data networkdefine how the IP addresses which are used to route Internet protocolpackets (datagrams) in the Internet are mapped onto the networks whichmake up the cable data network's link level. The architecture has anumber of fundamental principles:

-   -   Each cable data network defines its own IP addressing domain,        i.e., the network defines how IP addresses in a set of IP        addresses which has been assigned to the cable data network are        assigned to component devices in the cable data network.    -   All devices in the cable data network which do routing or        maintain data bases used in determining routes are IP hosts.    -   Within the addressing domain, sets of IP addresses are assigned        to hosts connected by a LAN to an RF modem, which is in turn        connected to a CATV cable that is part of a network in the        addressing domain. The RF modem functions as a router for        packets addressed to the hosts connected to the LAN.    -   IP routing in the networks consisting of portions of the cable        network is hierarchical. An IP packet addressed to a host is        first routed to the proper cable network, then captured by the        host's RF modem and finally routed to the host by the RF modem.    -   The RF modem may receive IP packets addressed to its hosts from        two independent link level networks: an RF link level network        (for example, a CATV network) and a switched public telephone        network. The RF modem may further route outgoing IP packets via        the switched public telephone network.        Several advantages flow from these principles:

Because all of the devices that do routing or maintain routing databases are Internet hosts, IP address assignment, packet rerouting, andnetwork management can be done using the standard DHCP, RIP, and SNMPTCP/IP protocols. For details, see the Stevens reference, supra.

Because the RF modem can receive packets addressed to its hosts not onlyvia the RF link level, but also via the telephone network, if the RFlink fails, packets for the hosts can be simply rerouted to the RF modemvia the telephone network. Moreover, the rerouting can by done by meansof the RIP TCP/IP protocol.

Packets sent to the RF modem via the telephone network may be employedto tune the RF modem to a particular channel in the RF link, making itpossible to dynamically assign a channel in the RF link to an RF modem.In effect, a link-level address in the RF link is dynamically assignedto the RF modem.

Because the cable data network can assign its own IP addresses, a mixedstatic-dynamic policy for assigning addresses may be pursued, withcomponents that are constantly active having statically-assigned IPaddresses and components that are intermittently active, such as the RFmodems and the hosts attached to them, having dynamically-assigned IPaddresses that are assigned at the beginning of activity by thecomponent and are deassigned at the end of activity.

The dynamic assignment of IP addresses to RF modems and their hostsmakes it possible to share a small number of IP addresses among a muchlarger group of users. Moreover, the dynamic assignment of IP addressescan by done by means of the DHCP TCP/IP protocol.

The dynamic assignment of IP addresses to RF modems also makes itpossible to share a small number of addresses in the RF link among amuch larger group of RF modems.

Network management can be done by means of the SNMP TCP/IP protocol.

The number of IP addresses required in the network is further reduced bygiving the RF modems a reusable IP address for use inside the LAN towhich a given RF modem's hosts are attached.

Physical Components of the Cable Data Network: FIG. 1

FIG. 1 shows the physical components of cable data network 100 in apreferred embodiment Cable data network 100 transfers data packets withIP addresses between Internet 150 and hosts 108, which in a preferredembodiment are PCs or work stations. Cable data network 100 alsotransfers packets with IP addresses among the components of cable datanetwork 100 and uses Internet 150 to exchange data packets with IPaddresses between cable data network 100 and remotely-located controland management components 111. These components typically deal withfunctions such as receiving information about new subscribers orbilling.

In a preferred embodiment, cable data network 100 is implemented in acable television (CATV) system. Packets from Internet 150 that containthe IP address of a host 108(i) are received in CATV head end 122, areput in the proper form for transmittal over cable 132 belonging to theCATV system, and are transmitted via cable 132 to RF modem 106(j) towhich destination host 108(i) is attached. RF modem 106(j) reads the IPaddress of host 108 from the packet and routes the packet to host108(i). Packets from host 108(i) which are intended for a destination inInternet 150 go to RF modem 106(j), which routes them via telephone line131 and public switched telephone network (PSTN) 109 to a telephonemodem (Tmodem) 110(k) in telephone modem pool 135 in head end 122.Tmodem 110(k) routes the packet to router 101, which routes it toInternet 150. Since public switched telephone network 109 allowsbidirectional communication, router 101 may also route packets receivedfrom Internet 150 for host 108(i) to host 108(i) via tmodem 110(k) andRF modem 106(j). As will be explained in more detail in the following,this route is used in the event of a failure in the CATV portion ofnetwork 100.

Continuing with the details of the implementation of cable data network100, data packets are transferred between Internet 150 and CATV head end122 by means of a transmission medium belonging to a wide-area backbonenetwork 124. Typically, the transmission medium will be a high-speed,high-capacity fiber optic cable such as a T1 or T3 cable, but it couldalso be a terrestrial or satellite microwave link. The transmissionmedium is connected to router 101, which in a preferred embodiment maybe a router belonging to the 7000 series manufactured by Cisco Systems,Inc., San Jose, Calif.

Router 101 is coupled between WAN backbone 124 and local-area network(LAN) 120, which is the link-level network that connects the componentsof cable data network 100 which are located in CATV head end 122. Router101 may both receive packets from backbone 124 or LAN 120 and providethem to backbone 124 or LAN 120. Each component connected to LAN 120 hasboth an IP address and a LAN address on LAN 120, and router 101 containsa routing table which it uses to route IP packets to IP hosts, includingother routers. Router 101 examines every packet it receives on WANbackbone 124 or LAN 120; if the packet's destination IP address is oneof the ones in the routing table, router 101 routes it to the componenton LAN 120 which is to receive IP packets having that address; if it isnot one of the addresses in the routing table, router 101 routes it toWAN backbone 124, which takes it to Internet 150. In each case, router101 puts the data packet into the proper form to be transmitted via therelevant link-level network.

As will be apparent from the foregoing discussion, LAN 120 and router101 can be used to route IP packets received from Internet 150 anddestined to a host 108 via two routes. The first is via communicationsmanager 102 and cable plant 105, cable 132, and RF modem 106. The secondis to host 108 via telephone modem pool 135 and RF modem 106. Packetsfrom host 108 and from RF modem 106 go via telephone modem pool 135 andLAN 120 to router 101. In other embodiments, it may also be possible toroute packets addressed to RF modem 106 via the first route. Router 101can finally route packets via Internet 150 between the components inhead end 122, hosts 108, RF modems 106, and control and managementcomponent 111.

When packets are to go to a host 108 via cable 132, they are routed tocommunications manager 102, which puts the packets into the proper formfor transport by that link-level network. FIG. 4 shows how data istransported on cable 132 in a preferred embodiment Cable 132 is an RFmedium 401 which carries data in a fixed number of channels 403. Eachchannel 403 occupies a portion of the range of frequencies transportedby cable 132. Within a channel 403(i), data moves in superframes 405.Each superframe contains a superframe header 414 and a fixed number offixed-sized superpackets 407. The only portion of the superframe headerthat is important to the present discussion is stream identifier (STRID)415, which is a unique identifier for the stream of data carried onchannel 403. The combination of a channel's frequency and the streamidentifier 415 uniquely identifies the network to which cable 132belongs in the CATV system. As will be explained in more detail later,this unique identification of the network cable 132 belongs to is usedby communications manager 102 to determine which network should receivethe IP packets intended for hosts 108 connected to a given RF modem106(i).

Each superpacket 407 contains a header 409 and data 411. The headercontains a link identifier (LinkID) 413 in cable network 132 for an RFmodem 106. The number of superpackets 407 is the number of pipes inchannel 403(i). When a given RF modem 106(i) is active, it is associatedwith a <channel,pipe,link ID> triple, that is, the RF modem 106(i) istuned to the channel 403(j) specified in the triple and watches thesuperpackets that belong to the pipe specified in the triple. Forexample, if the RF modem is associated with pipe 3, it watchessuperpacket 407(3) in superframe 405, and if superpacket 407(3)'s header409 contains RF modem 106(i)'s Link Id 413, RF modem 106(i) reads data411 from superpacket 407(3). The <channel, pipe, linkID> triple is thusthe link address of RF modem 106(i) on cable 132. Data 411 is of courseall or part of an IP packet 301. If the IP address of packet 301specifies a host 108 connected to RF modem 106(i), RF modem 106(i)routes it to that host 108.

Returning to communications manager 102, that component receives IPpackets 301 addressed to hosts 108 connected to networks whose linklayers are cables 132 connected to head end 105 and routes them to theproper RF modems 106 for the hosts. It does by relating the IP addressof an active host 108 to one of the networks and within the network to a<channel,pipe,linkID> triple specifying the RF modem 106 to which thehost 108 is connected. As employed in the present context, an activehost is one that currently has an IP address assigned to it. Using theinformation in the routing table, communications manager 102 makessuperframes 405 for each channel 403(i) in the network containing cable132. The superframes contain superpackets 407 directed to the RF modems106 connected to that channel for which communications manager 102 hasreceived IP packets 301. The superframes are stored in a dual-portedmemory which is accessible to QPR modulators 103.

There is a QPR modulator 103 for each channel 403 in a given network,and the QPR modulator reads the superframes for its channel, digitallymodulates the RF signal for the channel according to the contents of thesuperframes, and outputs the modulated signal to combiner 104, whichcombines the outputs from all QPR modulators and provides the combinedoutput to cable plant 105, which outputs it to cables 132 belonging tothe network. The QPR modulators employ quadrature partial responsemodulation. Of course, any kind of digital RF frequency modulation couldbe employed as well. It should also be pointed out that any arrangementcould be employed which relates a given RF modem 106 to a portion of thebandwidth of the network to which cable 132 belongs, rather than the<channel,pipe,LinkID> triple used in the preferred embodiment, and thatthe portion of the bandwidth that carries packets addressed to hosts 108connected to a given RF modem 106 can be termed in a broad sense the RFmodem's “channel”.

Following cable 132 to RF modem 106, RF modem 106 is connected betweencable 132, a LAN 133 to which one or more hosts 108 are connected, andtelephone line 131 and provides interfaces to cable 132, LAN 133, andtelephone line 131. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a preferredembodiment of RF modem 106. The components of RF modem 106 operate undercontrol of CPU 505 and read data from and write data to memory 507,which has three kinds of memory components: static RAM 509, which isnonvolatile, that is, it is writable but retains its contents when RFmodem 106 is turned off, dynamic RAM 511, which is volatile, and FLASHRAM 513, which is nonvolatile and writable but will only permit a fixednumber of writes. SRAM 509 is used to store data which changes but mustbe kept across activations of RF modem 106. Examples of such data arethe RF modem's telephone number and the addresses of RF modem 106 andhosts 108 on LAN 133. DRAM 511 is used for data that is only validduring an activation, such as the current routing table. FLASH RAM 513is used for information that changes only rarely, such as the programsexecuted by CPU 505. In the preferred embodiment, RF modem 106 can loadprograms it receives in IP packets via telephone line 131 into Flash RAM513.

Turning to the interfaces and beginning with the interface to cable 132,that interface has two main components, tuner 501 and decoder 503. Tuner501 can be tuned under control of CPU 505 to a channel 403(i) in cable132. Tuner 501 further demodulates the superframes 405 it receives onthat channel and passes them to decoder 503. Decoder 503 examinessuperpacket 407(i) for the pipe which carries data addressed to RF modem106, and if LinkID 413 in superpacket 407(i) specifies RF modem 106,decoder 503 does error correction, decodes the data, and passes it tomemory 507. When an IP packet has accumulated in memory 507, CPU 505examines the destination IP address in the packet, and uses a routingtable in memory 507 to determine whether the packet is addressed to ahost 108 connected to RF modem 106. If the packet is so addressed, CPU505 obtains the LAN address corresponding to the IP address. CPU 505provides the LAN address and the location of the packet in memory 507 toEthernet integrated circuit 515, which packages the packet into one ormore Ethernet frames and outputs it to Ethernet 133.

RF modem may also receive IP packets via phone line 131 and modem chip517 that are addressed either to the RF modem 106 itself or to one ofthe hosts 108 connected to RF modem 106. In the first case, RF modem 106responds to the packet; in the second, it routes the packet to the hostas just described for packets from cable 132. When RF modem 106 receivesa packet via LAN 133 that is not addressed to RF modem 106 itself, itroutes the packet via modem chip 517 and telephone line 131 Included inhost 108 is the software 107 necessary to interact with RF modem 106.

Continuing with the portion of the link level that is implemented usingthe public switched telephone network, modem chip 517 in RF modem 106 isconnected by means of a standard analog telephone line 131 to publicswitched telephone network 109, and RF modem 106 can thus call othertelephone numbers via PSTN 109 and be called from other telephonenumbers in PSTN 109 In the present case, when RF modem 106 wishes to setup a session that will permit it to transfer IP packets 301 for a host108, it calls a telephone number for telephone modem pool 135 The modempool responds by assigning a telephone modem (Tmodem) 110 to RF modem106 and assigning RF modem 106 an IP address. As shown in FIG. 1,telephone modem pool 135 is also connected to LAN 120 in head end 122.Telephone modem pool 135 serves as a router with respect to LAN 120 andthe telephone connections currently being served as by the tmodems 110in the modem pool. Once a telephone modem 110 and an IP address havebeen assigned to RF modem 106, RF modem 106 may send IP packets 301 tothe devices connected to LAN 120 and receive IP packets 301 from thosedevices.

As will be explained in more detail in the following, the fact that PSTN109 provides a bidirectional link between the devices connected to LAN120 and RF modem 106 is employed to determine where RF modem 106 is inthe cable network managed by head end 122, to dynamically assign a<channel,pipe,linkID> triple in cable 132 to RF modem 106, and toprovide an alternate route to hosts 108 connected to RF modem 106 whenthere is a failure in the RF link between head end 122 and RF modem 106.

The remaining device which is connected to LAN 120 is control/managementserver 125, which in a preferred embodiment is implemented in softwareexecuting on a server constructed by SUN Microsystems, Inc., MountainView, Calif. Control/management server 125 manages CDN 100. It respondsto DHCP packets by dynamically allocating IP addresses to hosts 108 andsending SNMP packets to router 101 and communications manager 102 whichcause them to set their routing tables as required for thenewly-assigned IP address, responds to SNMP trap packets from thedevices connected to LAN 120 and from RF modems 106, responds to RIPpackets as required to update routings, and maintains the Managementinformation Database used by the SNMP protocol as well as a list ofunassigned IP addresses. A graphical user interface in controlmanagement server 125 shows the current status of CDN 100 and permitsoperator intervention in the operation of cable data network 100.

IP Addressing Architecture of CDN 100: FIGS. 6 and 2

CDN 100 maintains its own IP address domain. The proprietors of CDN 100receive a set of 32-bit IP addresses and can apply those addresses todevices connected to CDN 100 as they see fit. FIG. 6 shows 32-bit IPaddress 601. The 32 bits are divided into two fields: type field 603,which defines the type of IP address 601 and host ID field 613, whichidentifies a specific host 108. The host IDs are organized into sets ofIDs for the networks in the address domain. This is done by means of atechnique called classless interdomain routing (CIDR). In thistechnique, the entire address is a host ID 613 that identifies anindividual host; some number of the most significant bits of the host IPaddress are designated to specify a given network belonging to thedomain; these bits are the same for all IP addresses in the givennetwork and make up network ID 605.

Packets with IP addresses that have been assigned using the CIDRtechnique are routed by means of subnetwork masks. A subnetwork mask 608is a 32-bit string of bits that is used to mask an IP address, that is,to select that part of the IP address that is currently relevant to therouting process. For example, if the IP address is being routed to thenetwork it belongs to, the only part of the address that is relevant isthe part that contains network ID 605. As shown in FIG. 6, in this case,unmasked part 610 selects the bits of network ID 605; masked part 611hides the remaining bits of the IP address. Once the packet is in thenetwork identified by network ID 605, the entire IP address is relevantand none of it is masked.

Using this technique, the proprietors of a domain of IP addresses caneasily define the number of hosts in a network In CDN 100, the bits ofIP address 601 specified by the subnetwork mask that identifies networkID field 605 specify a portion of a metropolitan cable network (forexample, a single cable 132, a single cable plant 105 and the cablesradiating from it, or even a single head end 122 and the cables 132served by it). Host ID field 613 identifies one of the hosts 108 in thenetwork identified by network ID field 605. As one would expect from thefact that CDN 100 has a relatively small number of CATV cables, arelatively large number of RF modems 106, and a relatively small numberof hosts 108 per RF modem 106, the number of bits in network ID field605 is comparatively small.

Comparison of addresses for routing purposes is done using subnetworkmasks 608. The order in which an IP address being routed is compared toaddresses in the routing table is by the unmasked length of the addressin the routing table. Thus, the address being routed is compared firstwith addresses that are completely unmasked. For details, see Stevens,supra, pp. 7-9 and 140-141.

FIG. 2 shows the IP networks that exist in the cable data network andhow they relate to the link level networks. Each addressable componentof the cable data network appears in FIG. 2 with the IP addresses andlink level addresses that apply to it. As is the case with all IPnetworks, each host must have its own IP address and must have inaddition the address of a gateway in the network to which it can send IPpackets for routing. Only one set of the IP networks, namely networks B208(0 . . . n) need belong to cable data network IP address domain 202,that is, the cable data network assigns the addresses in these networksfrom the set provided to it. In the preferred embodiment, networks A andD also belong to address domain 202. IP addresses in network A all havenetwork A's NetID 605 and IP addresses in network B 208(i) all havenetwork B 208(i)'s NetID 605. The third IP network is network D 212. Therouter for this network is modem pool 135. In a preferred embodiment,the IP addresses in network D 212 are not visible outside cable datanetwork 100. In other embodiments, the IP addresses in network D 212 maybelong to another domain entirely, for example, one belonging to thetelephone company that provides the modem pool.

Continuing with IP network A 206, this network has LAN 120 as its linklevel network. LAN 120 connects components of cable data network 100that are always in use, and consequently, the IP addresses in network A206 may be statically assigned. Routers with IP addresses in Net A arerouter 101, communications manager 102, and modem pool 135.

IP network B 208(i) may be one of several such networks, each of whichwill have its own statically-assigned NetID 605. Network B 208(i) has asits link layer one or more cables 132, to which RF modems 106 areconnected. The router for network B 208(i) is communications manager102. Each active RF modem 206(j) in network B 208(i) has a set 210(j) ofIP addresses having network B 208(i)'s network ID 605 that are availableto be assigned to hosts 108 connected to RF modem 206(j). An active RFmodem 106 is one that has an active host 108 connected to it. Any IPaddress having the network ID for the network may belong to a given set210(j). The link level network for each set of IP addresses 210(j) isthe LAN 133 connecting the hosts 108 with RF modem 106(j). RF modem106(j) serves as the router for that set of addresses. IP addresses ofhosts 108 in net B 208(i) are dynamically assigned by control/managementserver 125. When RF modem 106(j) becomes active, control/managementserver 125 assigns modem 106(j) a set of IP addresses for the hosts 108connected to RF modem 106(j). The IP addresses have the NetID 605 fornetwork B 208(i) and as many host IDs 613 as are required for the hosts108. As will be explained in more detail below, every host 108 connectedto an RF modem 106(j) has an IP address for RF modem 106(j). Cable datanetwork 100 conserves IP addresses by giving RF modems 106(j) identicalIP addresses on the LANs 133 connecting the RF modems 106 to their hosts108.

As indicated before, network 212 D uses hidden IP addresses belonging tothe domain of cable data network 100 in a preferred embodiment, but theIP addresses may also be provided by another party such as a telephonecompany. The link layer in this network is public switched telephonenetwork 109. When RF modem 106(j) dials into modem pool 135, modem pool135 dynamically assigns RF modem 106(j) an IP address. Modem pool 135also functions as the router in network 212 D. Modem pool 135 routesincoming IP packets with RF modem 106(j)'s IP address via network D 212to RF modem 106(j). When the RF link is inoperative, modem pool 135 alsoroutes incoming packets with the IP addresses of the hosts 108 attachedto RF modem 106(j) to RF modem 106(j), which routes them further to thehosts. Modem pool 135 additionally routes all outgoing packets receivedfrom RF modem 106(j) via LAN 120 to router 101.

Router 101 normally routes IP packets destined for network B tocommunications manager 102 and those destined for network D to modempool 135. If there is a failure in network B, router 101 can also routepackets destined for a host 108 connected to RF modem 106(j) to RF modem106(j) via network D.

FIG. 2 also shows the IP and link layer addresses by means of which thecomponents of CDN 100 may be reached. Beginning with the components onNet A 206, router 101 has an IP address 203(b) of its own in Net A 206and also has an address 205(a) on LAN 120 and an address 207 on WAN 124.Communications manager 102 has an IP address 203(c) of its own in Net A206 and an address 205(d) on LAN 120. Router 101 also routes all packetsto communications manager 102 that are to be carried via the networks B208 specified in one or more NETID fields 605 in the IP addresses.Continuing with control/management server 125, that component has an IPaddress 203(e) in Net A 206 and a LAN address 205(b). Modem pool 135 hasan IP address 214(b) in Net D 212, a LAN address 205(c), and a telephonenumber 208(a) in PSTN 109.

Continuing with network B 208(i), a given host 108(k) has adynamically-assigned IP address. In the address, the host ID 613specifies host 108(k) and the net ID 605 specifies network B 208(i).Each host also has a LAN address 211(a) in LAN 133. The most complexaddressing situation is that of RF modem 106(j). RF modem 106(j) has anIP address 214(a) in network D 212, and has a reusable IP address 216.At the link address level, RF modem 106(j) is addressed in cable 132 bya <channel,pipe,linkID> triple, has a telephone number 208(b), and a LANaddress 211(b) in LAN 133.

Routing and Routing Tables: FIGS. 9-11

Every host in an Internet network has a routing table. The routing tablerelates destination IP addresses of IP packets that are received in thehost to gateway IP addresses of hosts on the same link-level network asthe host to which the routing table belongs. If the host is a router,its routing table will relate IP addresses that are received in therouter to IP addresses of hosts on the link-level networks that areconnected by the router. Thus, a host can send an IP packet to a host onanother link-level network by sending the packet to the router in thehost's link-level network that sends packets to the other link-levelnetwork. Every host in an Internet network is also capable of executingthe ARP protocol, which translates an IP address into a link-leveladdress of the link-level network that the host is connected to.

Actually routing an IP packet received by a host is thus a two-stepprocess. First, the host consults the routing table to find the gatewayIP address corresponding to the IP packet's destination IP address; thegateway IP address specifies which host on the link-level network the IPpacket is to be sent to; then the host executes the ARP protocol to findthe link-level address of the host specified by the gateway IP address.When the host has the link-level address, it puts the IP packet in theform required by the link-level network and sends it to the link-leveladdress. In order to save time in executing the ARP protocol, each hostalso has an ARP cache, which is a table of the current mappings betweenIP addresses of hosts in the link-level network and the link-leveladdresses of those hosts. For details on routing tables, see Stevens,supra, pp. 111-117; for details on the ARP protocol, see Stevens, supra,pp. 53-64.

FIG. 11 shows a routing table 1101 for a host 108(k) when host 108(k) isconnected to cable data network 100. Host 108(k) has only threedestinations to which it can route IP packets to itself, to another host108(i) connected to LAN 133, or to RF modem 106(j), which is of course ahost in LAN 133, but is also the router for all IP packets that havedestinations outside LAN 133. There are thus n+2 entries 1103 in routingtable 1101, where n is the number of hosts 108 attached to LAN 133. Eachentry has three parts: a destination IP address, a gateway IP address,which must be an IP address of a host on LAN 133, and routinginformation, which indicates among other things whether the hostspecified by the gateway IP address is a router and the name of thelink-layer network upon which the packet is to be routed.

Entry 1103(i) is for the so-called loop-back interface. It has a specialIP address that clients and servers on the same host can use to send IPpackets to each other. Packets sent to this IP address are processedcompletely within client 108 and never appear on LAN 133. As can be seenfrom FIG. 11, the same loopback IP address 1103 is used for both thedestination IPA and the gateway IPA The entries labelled 104 are for theother hosts 108 in set 210(j). Each of these has the full IP address ofthe given host as both its destination IP address and its gateway IPaddress. What this means is that when a packet has an IP address thatmatches the destination IPA in entry 1103(j), its ultimate destinationis a host 108(l) and the next step in the routing is for host 108(k) touse the ARP protocol to determine the LAN address corresponding to thepacket's gateway IP address and then to send the IP packet to the LANaddress.

IP packets whose destination addresses are not in set 210(j) are handledby entry 1103(k), which is the default entry for IP addresses thatcannot be routed using other entries 1103. The default IPA 1115 isaccordingly the destination IPA. The gateway IPA is the reusable IPA forRF modem 106(j). As will be explained in more detail later, thisreusable IPA 1117 does not belong to the set of IP addresses 210(j) thatare dynamically assigned to hosts 108 connected to LAN 133 when RF modem106(j) becomes active. When host 108(k) receives a packet that matchesdefault entry 1103(k), host 108(k) uses the ARP protocol to find the LANaddress corresponding to re-usable IPA 1117, that is, the LAN address ofRF modem 106(j) and sends the IP packet to RF modem 106(j). Since boththe hosts 108 and RF modem 106(j) are connected to LAN 133, the routinginfo in entries 1104 and 1103(k) specifies LAN 133.

FIG. 11 also shows ARP cache 1119 for host 108(k). Cache 1119 has acache entry 1120 for each host 108 connected to LAN 133 that currentlyhas an IP address assigned to it, shown at 1122, and a cache entry1120(j) for RF modem 106(j). In entries 1122, each entry has the IPaddress 1121 for the host 108 to which the entry belongs and the LANaddress 1123 for the host 108; entry 1120(j) has reusable IP address1117 for RF modem 106(j) and RF modem 106(j)'s LAN address 1125.

FIG. 9 shows the routing tables for router 101, modem pool 135, and RFmodem 106. Beginning with routing table 901 for router 101, for purposesof the present discussion, two routings are of interest in routing table101. The routing shown by entry 903(i) is for an IP address thatspecifies a host 108 when the RF link connecting head end 122 to host108's RF modem 106 is functioning. In entry 903(i), the destination IPaddress is masked so that only NetId 605 is used for routing. Since thatis the case, entry 903(i) matches every destination IP address 307 withthat Net ID 605, that is, the net addresses for all of the hosts whichare connected to the RF network to which cable 132 belongs. The gatewayIP address is IP address 203(c) for communications manager 102. Thus,unless there is an entry 903 whose mask is longer than the one used withentry 903(i), the packet is routed to communications manager 102.

As will be explained in more detail below, as long as the RF linkprovided by cable 132 to RF modem 106 is functioning, there will only bean entry for the Net ID 605 for the network that RF modem 106 isattached to, and thus all packets directed to hosts 108 attached tomodem 106 will be routed via communications manager 102 and cable 132.If all or part of the RF link fails, an entry like that for 903(j) ismade in routing table 901 for each host 108 attached to an RF modem 106whose RF link has failed. In this entry, the unmasked IP address of thehost is used as the destination IP address and the gateway IP address isIP address 214(b), which is the address of modem pool 135. As long asentry 903(j) exists in routing table 901, packets addressed to the host108 specified in the destination IP address will go by way of modem pool135 and public switched telephone network 109, rather than by way ofcable 132.

Continuing with routing table 921 for modem pool 135, this routing tablehas the same basic structure as routing table 901 Again, there are twoentries that are of interest in the present situation. When a given RFmodem 106(i) is receiving IP packets addressed to its hosts 108 by wayof cable 132, it is still capable of receiving IP packets addressed toRF modem 106(i)'s IP address 214(a), and consequently, there will be anentry 922(j) for that IP address as long as RF modem 106(i) is active.In that entry, the destination IP field 930 and the gateway IP field 932will both have IP address 214(a).

When RF modem 106(i)'s RF link via cable 132 has failed, there will beanother entry 922(i) for each of the hosts 108 attached to RF modem106(i). This entry's destination IP field 929 will contain the IPaddress 929 for the host 108, and the gateway IP address field 931 hasIP address 214(a) for RF modem 106(i). Thus when the RF link is down,packets for hosts 108 routed to modem pool 135 by router 101 are furtherrouted by modem pool 135 to RF modem 106(i).

Continuing with routing table 933 for RF modem 106, this routing tablehas an entry 935 for each host 108 attached to LAN 133 and two othersthat are of interest in the present context In the entries 936 for thehosts 108, each contains the host's IP address as both its destinationIP address and gateway IP address. Entry 935(j)'s destination IP addressis the IP address 214(a) assigned RF modem 106(j) by modem pool 135 whenRF modem 106(j) became active; the gateway IP address here is again RFmodem 106(i)'s reusable IP address 1117. This entry routes messages forRF modem 106(j) received via PSTN 109 to RF modem 106(j) itself Thefinal entry, 935(k), is the default entry; the gateway IP address is IPaddress 214(b) for modem pool 135, and thus, all remaining packetsreceived by RF modem 106(j) are routed via PSTN 109 to modem pool 135and from thence to router 101.

The routing table for communications manager 102 is shown at 949. Again,there are three entries 951 of interest. Entry 951(i) routes all IPpackets destined for the networks managed by communications manager 102;in the destination IPA portion of this entry, everything is masked butthe net ID portion of the address. Entry 951(j) routes packets intendedfor communications manager 102 itself; the destination IPA and thegateway IPA are IPA 203(c) for communications manager 102. Default entry951(k), finally, has as its gateway IPA the IP address 203(b) of router101, consequently, all other IP packets are routed back to router 101via LAN 120.

FIG. 10, finally, shows the implementation of ARP cache 1001 incommunications manager 102. The technique used to implement the table ishashing, which is a standard technique for reducing search time in largetables. In ARP cache table 1001, the IP addresses 1003 for incomingpackets addressed to a host 108 are hashed, that is, they are input to afunction 1005 which produces small integer values 1009 from the IPaddresses. The small integer is used as an index into a hash array 1011,whose elements are pointers 1013 to lists of IP addresses that hash tothe index of element 1013. Each list entry 1015 has three fields: field1017 contains a destination IP address; field 1019 is a pointer to thenext list entry 1015 in the list, and CCB pointer 1021 is a pointer to adata structure called a CCB block 1023 which specifies the frequency,pipe number, and linkID to which packets having IP address 1017 may besent. The fields of CCB block 1023 are IP address 1025, which has thesame IP address as IPA 1017, modulator number 1029, which effectivelyspecifies the frequency, pipe number 1031, which specifies the pipe,linkID 1033, which specifies the RF modem 106, and next pointer 1035which specifies the next CCB block 1023. Translation of an IP addressinto the corresponding <channel,pipe number,linkID> triple works byhashing the IP address to get the index of list pointer 1013, followinglist pointer 1013 to the list, searching list entries 1015 until one isfound that has the IP address being translated as its IP address 1017,and going to that list entry 1015's CCB block 1023 to find theinformation needed to form the triple. It is worth noting here that itis the structure of ARP cache 1001 which makes it possible in apreferred embodiment to use any IP address in the network of the cable124 to which an RF modem 106(j) is attached for a host 108 that isattached to RF modem 106(j).

Dynamic Assignment of Resources: FIG. 12

A problem in the design of networks that employ IP addresses is that theIP addresses are only 32 bits long. The maximum number of address isconsequently 2 ³², and the enormous growth of the Internet has resultedin a shortage of IP addresses. One of the techniques that cable datanetwork 100 employs to reduce the number of IP address needed in cabledata network 100 is the dynamic assignment of IP addresses to hosts 108in network B 208(i) and of the <channel,pipe,link ID> triples used tospecify destinations of data in cable 132 to RF modems 106(j). Bydynamic assignment is meant here that the IP addresses in a given set ofaddresses C 210(j) and the <channel,pipe,link ID> triple listened to byRF modem 106(j) are assigned to RF modem 106(j) for the period of timethat RF modem 106(j) is active. When RF modem 106(j) is not active, theIP addresses are available for assignment to other hosts 108 and the<channel,pipe,link ID> triple is available for assignment to another RFmodem 106(k). Since only a small percentage of hosts 108 is active at agiven time, dynamic assignment makes it possible to share a relativelysmall number if IP addresses and <channel,pipe,link ID> triples among amuch larger number of users. It should be further noted here that thebinding between a <channel,pipe,link ID> triple and the set of IPaddresses 210(j) is also dynamic, i.e., what IP addresses correspond toa given <channel,pipe,link ID> triple is decided only when the IPaddresses and the <channel,pipe,link ID> triple are assigned.

FIG. 12 shows the system used to do dynamic assignment of IP addressesand <channel,pipe,link ID> triples in a preferred embodiment. Dynamicassignment is handled cooperatively by control/management server 125 andcommunications manager 102. Both are hosts in IP network A 206 and haveTCP/IP SNMP (simple network management protocol) agents 1203 and 1233,and control/management server 125 and communications manager 102 cancooperate by means of SNMP messages. For details on SNMP, see Stevens,supra, pp. 359-387.

Control/management server 125 further has a DHCP server 1201 and an IPAmanager 1204 executing on it. DHCP server 1201 responds to IP packetsbelonging to the TCP/IP DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration) protocol. Aswill be explained in more detail below, this protocol is employed todynamically assign an IP host an IP address. Details on the DHCPprotocol may be found in R. Droms, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol,RFC 1541, obtainable in March 1997 at the URLwww.cis.ohio-state.edu/htbin/rfc/rfc1541.html. The IP addressesthemselves are managed by IPA manager 1204. Communications manager 102also has executing on it a channel manager 1231, which manages the<channel,pipe,link ID> triples assigned to RF modems 106.

Assignment of IP addresses to hosts 108 connected to RF modem 106 and ofa <channel,pipe,link ID> triple to RF modem 106 begins when DHCP server1201 receives a DHCPDISCOVER message from an RF modem 106(j) that hasbecome active. The DHCPDISCOVER message requests assignment of a numberof IP addresses for the hosts 108 attached to RF modem 106(j). In thepreferred embodiment, the DHCPDISCOVER message includes the IP address1215 of RF modem 106(j) (assigned it by modem pool 135). Thevendor-encapsulated-options part of the DHCPDISCOVER message includesthe following, as shown at 1213 in FIG. 12:

-   -   The number of addresses being requested 1216. An address is        requested for every host 108 connected to RF modem 106(j).    -   <frequency,streamID> pair 1217 and 1219. These uniquely identify        the cable 132 that RF modem 106 is connected to.

The IP addresses of the hosts 108 are assigned by IP address manager1204, with the assistance of SNMP agent 1203. The first step inassigning the IP addresses is determining which IP network B 208(i) thecable 132 belongs to that RF modem 106(j) is connected to. IPA manager1204 uses <freq,streamID>,NETID> table 1237 to make this determination.Each entry in the table relates a <frequency,streamID> pair to a Net ID.All IP addresses assigned in the IP network B 208 identified by the NetID must include the Net ID. The information in table 1237 is provided bychannel manager 1231 in communications manager 102.

When IPA manager 1204 has the Net ID, it can assign the IP addresses.IPA manager 1204 has a list 1211(i) of free IP addresses for eachnetwork B 208(i), and it takes a set of IP addresses that has the numberof addresses specified in address range 1216 from the free list 1211 forthe network B 208(i). IPA manager 1204 then provides an SNMP set messagewith the IP addresses to SNMP agent 1203. As shown by arrow 1241, SNMPagent 1203 sends the message to SNMP agent 1233 in communicationsmanager 102.

SNMP agent 1233 passes the message on to channel manager 1231, whichmaintains a list 1235 of free CCB blocks 1023 for each network. Channelmanager 1231 finds a free CCB block in the list for the specified NetID. The block is for a particular <channel,pipe> pair. Channel manager1231 fills the IP address from the SNMP message and a link ID for the RFmodem 106 into the CCB block 1023 and adds CCB block 1023 to ARP table1101. Channel manager 1231 then uses SNMP agent 1233 to send a returnmessage via SNMP agent 1203 to IPA manager 1203. As shown at arrow 1243,the return message contains the IP address and the <channel,pipe,linkID> triple that has been assigned to it. Channel manager 1231 addsentries for the newly-assigned IP addresses to its assigned IPA database 1207. Each entry contains the IP address and the <channel,pipe,linkID> triple. Now that all of the information needed to relate the IPaddresses of RF modem 106(j)'s hosts 108 to a <channel,pipe,link ID>triple on cable 132 is available, DHCP server 1201 returns a DHCPOFFERIP packet to RF modem 106(j) which is to receive the IP packets whosedestination IP address belong to the set of addresses 210(j)corresponding to the <channel,pipe,linkID> triple.

In a preferred environment, IP addresses assigned to the hosts belongingto RF modem 106 are deassigned when RF modem 106(j) becomes inactive.This is detected by modem pool 135 when RF modem 106(j) hangs up andmodem pool 135 sends an SNMP message to SNMP agent 1203 incontrol/management server 125 informing agent 203 of that fact. Agent1203 removes the entries for the IP addresses for the hosts 108connected to RF modem 106(j) from its data base and returns the IPaddresses to IPA manager 1204, which puts them on the proper free list1211(i). Agent 1203 also sends an SNMP message to SNMP agent 1233 incommunications manager 102 informing communications manager 102 that theIP addresses have been deassigned. Agent 1233 passes the IP addresses tochannel manager 1231, which removes the CCB blocks for the IP addressesfrom ARP table 1101 and returns them to the free CCB block list 1235 forthe network to which the addresses belong.

In other embodiments, additional techniques may be employed to ensurethat IP addresses and <channel,pipe,link ID> triples that are not beingused are deassigned. One technique is the lease mechanism in the DHCPprotocol. This mechanism assigns an IP address only for a limited periodof time; if another DHCP protocol renewing the lease is not receivedfrom RF modem 106(j) within the limited period of time, the IP addressis deassigned. Another is to monitor the number of packets sent to an IPaddress over a period of time. If there are none, the address isdeassigned. The same technique may be used with <channel,pipe,link ID>triples; if there is no traffic on the <channel,pipe,link ID> triple, itis deassigned. In general, techniques analogous to those used to recovercache entries or memory pages may be used with IP addresses and<channel,pipe,link ID> triples.

Setting Up a Session with RF Modem 106

FIG. 7 shows the interactions 701 between the components of cable datanetwork 100 when a RF modem 106(i) is inactive and a user of host 108(j)connected to RF modem 106(i) wishes to become connected to Internet 150.The user executes routines in software 107 which cause host 108(j) tosend a setup request to RF modem 106(i) at modem 106(i)'s address in LAN133, as shown at 702. Included in the setup request is authenticationinformation such as a user identification and password and the telephonenumber of telephone modem pool 135. In the preferred embodiment, theauthentication is for all of the hosts 108 connected to RF modem 106. RFmodem 106 responds by first sending a dummy IP address to host 108(j)and then dialing the telephone number. The dummy IP address has a shortlease, i.e., is valid for only a short time. Telephone modem pool 135responds by setting up a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) link via PSTN 109between RF modem 106 and a tmodem 110(k). Once this is done, RF modem106 sends the authentication information to modem pool 135, which passesthem on to control/management server 125. Control management server 125then checks the authentication information, and if it is valid,control/management server 125 assigns an IP address in network D 21Z toRF modem 106(i). It returns the IP address to RF modem 106(i). RF modem106(i) can now use TCP/IP protocols to communicate with the head enddevices connected to LAN 120.

RF modem 106(i) must next obtain an IP address for host 108(j) and the<channel,pipe,link ID> triple which it is to receive packets addressedto host 108(j)'s IP address on cable 132. To do this, it sends aDHCPOFFER IP packet 703 to modem pool 135. Included in thevendor-encapsulated options portion of the protocol are the IP addressof RF modem 106(i) and a <frequency, streamID 405> pair which RF modem106(i) obtains by listening to any frequency on cable 132. As explainedearlier in the discussion of superframes 405, the <frequency,streamID>pair uniquely identifies which cable 132 RF modem 106(i) is connectedto.

Modem pool 135 receives DHCPOFFER packet 703, adds modem pool 135's IPaddress to it, and unicasts the packet via net A 206 to DHCP server1201. DHCP in control/management server 125 responds to packet 703 andassigns IP addresses for the hosts 108 attached to RF modem 106(j) and a<channel,pipe,link ID> triple to RF modem 106 as described above. The IPaddresses have leases that are long enough for the period for which anRF modem 106 is typically active. Next, control/management server 125sends a DHCPOFFER packet 715 addressed to RF modem 106's IP address.This is routed to modem pool 135. The OFFER packet contains thefollowing information:

-   -   Range of IP addresses for the hosts 108 connected to RF modem        106.    -   An IP address for RF modem 106 in Ethernet 133. As will be        explained in more detail below, this IP address is not unique to        RF modem 106.    -   the subnet mask for the host IP addresses.    -   IP addresses in network A 206 for a domain name server, for SNMP        agent 1203, for communications manager 102, and for router 101.    -   Information about where RF modem 106 can obtain current        firmware.    -   The <channel,pipe, link ID> triple that has been assigned to RF        modem 106.        Telephone modem pool 135 forwards the DHCP response packet to RF        modem 106(i) (717) and RF modern 106(i) sets its tuner 501 to        listen on the specified frequency and its decoder 503 to read        superpackets on the specified pipe when they have the RF modem's        link ID.

By this time, the lease on host 108(j)'s dummy IP address is about toexpire and host 108(j) sends a DHCPDISCOVER packet requesting a new IPaddress. RF modem 106(i) responds by assigning one of the IP addressesit received in its DHCPOFFER packet to host 108(j) and sending aDHCPOFFER packet with the IP address to host 108(j). Similarly, when RFmodem 106(i) receives a DHCPDISCOVER packet from any of the other hosts108 attached to LAN 133, it assigns one of the IP addresses to that host108 and sends the host 108 a DHCPOFFER packet that contains the assignedIP address.

In other embodiments, RF modem 106(i) may further respond to the DHCPOFFER packet 715 by sending an acknowledgment IP packet via PSTN 109 andmodem pool 135 to communications manager 102 (719). Communicationsmanager 102 responds to the acknowledgment by sending an acknowledgment721 on the cable 132 at the channel and pipe RF modem 106(i) islistening to. The acknowledgment contains at least RF modem 106(i)'s

Taking Down a Session with RF Modem 106

As long as any of hosts 108 is connected to Internet 150, RF modem 106listens for super packets addressed to it at the <channel,pipe,link ID>triple for RF modem 106 and maintains its connection via the telephonenetwork to modem pool 135. When the last host 108 shuts down itsconnection to Internet 150, RF modem 106 hangs up on the telephone lineconnecting it to modem pool 135. Modem pool 135 responds to the factthat RF modem 106 has hung up with a DHCP release message to DHCP server1201. The DHCP release message specifies the IP addresses assigned to RFmodem 106.

Server 125 sends an SNMP packet to communications manager 102instructing it to remove the entries for the IP addresses from its ARPcache 1001. Communications manager 102 returns the <channel,pipe,linkID>triple to its list of free <channel,pipe,ID> triples. When server 125receives an SNMP acknowledgment from communications manager 102, itdeletes the entries for the IP addresses for the hosts 108 connected tothe IP modem from its data base and returns the IP addresses to its listof free IP addresses. In other embodiments, the DHCP protocols used toget and free IP addresses for hosts 108 may originate with theindividual host 108.

RF Modem 106 as a Proxy DHCP Server

The entities in a network that respond to DHCP protocols are known asDHCP servers. In cable data network 100, the DHCP server is implementedin software running on control/management server 125. Additionally,however, each active RF modem 106(i) functions as a proxy DHCP server.By this is meant that it retains enough information locally to handleDHCP protocols that originate with hosts 108 connected to RF modem106(i). In so doing, it appears to host 108 as a standard DHCP serverand further greatly decreases the amount of traffic required to providehosts 108 with IP addresses.

Standard DHCP servers are always active; thus, the standard Internetclient software running on host 108 expects that the DHCP server willalways respond to a DHCPDISCOVER packet from a host with a DHCPOFFERpacket that contains an IP address for host 108. RF modem 106, however,is not always active and may have to establish a connection with NetworkA 206 and use the DHCP protocol to obtain the IP addresses forsubnetwork C 210(j) before it can respond to a DHCPDISCOVER packet froma host 108. For that reason, when RF modem 106 first becomes active, itprovides the host 108 that caused it to become active with a short-liveddummy IP address as previously described. RF modem 106 then obtains aset of IP addresses for its hosts 108 as previously described. Once ithas the IP addresses, it responds to DHCPDISCOVER packets from the hosts108 by assigning the hosts 108 IP addresses from the set. There is thusno need in these cases to send a DHCPDISCOVER packet to modem pool 135and control/management server 125.

Automatic Rerouting in the Event of a Failure of the RF Link: FIG. 8

An important advantage of cable data network 100 is that if the RF linkto a RF modem 106(i) fails, cable data network 100 automaticallyreroutes packets addressed to hosts 108 connected to that RF modem sothat they are routed by way of modem pool 135 and public switchedtelephone network 109 to RF modem 106. When the RF link is againoperative, cable data network 100 automatically again reroutes thepackets via the RF link. This automatic fallback and restoration featuretakes full advantage of the fact that public switched telephone network109 is bidirectional and of the fact that an active RF modem 106 has anIP address by means of which it is accessible via modem pool 135 andPSTN 109.

The automatic fallback and restoration feature is implemented using theTCP/IP routing information (RIP-2) protocol, described beginning at page29 of Stevens, supra. This protocol is used in networks employing IPaddresses to propagate addressing information among the routers in thenetwork. Any other protocol which performs this function could also beemployed. Typically, each router in a network will broadcast a RIPpacket to the other routers every thirty seconds or so. The RIP packetcontains the current routing table of the router sending the RIP packet.The other routers read the RIP packet and update their routing tablesaccordingly. A triggered RIP packet is sent each time the metric for aroute changes. The metric is a value which expresses the cost of sendinga packet by the route. Each router keeps track of the time intervalsince it last received an RIP packet from each of the other routers, andif the time interval exceeds a predetermined maximum, the router removesthe routes it received from that router from its routing table.

In the preferred embodiment, when RF modem 106 is active, it isconstantly listening to cable 132. If tuner 501 detects that there is noRF signal on the channel it is listening to or decoder 503 detects thatit is no longer receiving superframes 405, or that it can no longerdecode the superpackets 407 it is receiving, or that the number ofsuperpackets 407 with errors has increased above a predeterminedthreshold, tuner 501 or decoder 503 signals an error condition to CPU505. What happens next is shown in FIG. 8. Portion 701 of the figure isthe setup scenario of FIG. 7; portion 801 shows how RF modem 106 andsystem 100 respond when such an error condition occurs.

As shown at 803, when the error condition occurs, the routing tables inrouter 101 and communications manager 102 are routing IP packetsaddressed to hosts 108 via communications manager 102 and cable 132; IPpackets from hosts 108 to IP addresses in Internet 150 are being routedvia RF modem 106, PSTN 109, telephone modem pool 133, LAN 120, androuter 101. This condition is indicated in portion 801 at 803. At 805,RF modem 106 detects a failure in the RF link; RF modem 106 thereuponsends an SNMP trap packet, i.e., an error message that uses the TCP/IPSNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) addressed tocontrol/management server 125 via PSTN 109 and telephone modem pool 135.The network management system (NMS) is implemented by programs executingon server 125, and NMS responds to the trap packet by recording the factthat there has been a failure in the RF link in its system managementdata bases. The NMS system response may also include other actions suchas generating a display showing the problem in the NMS graphical userinterface (GUI) or triggering an alarm.

Next, RF modem 106 sends a triggered RIP packet to modem pool 135 withRF modem 106's routing table. Modem pool 135 responds to the RIP packetby adding the IP addresses of the hosts 108 to its own routing table921. It then sends a triggered RIP packet with the changes to therouters on LAN 120. Router 101 responds to the RIP packet by adding theIP addresses for the hosts 108 to its routing table 901. In otherembodiments, RF modem 106 may send triggered RIP packets directly tomodem pool 135 and router 101. As explained in the discussion of routingtables above, the result of these changes is that packets addressed tohosts 108 are now routed to hosts 108 via modem pool 135 and PSTN 109.Control/management server 125 also receives the RIP packet and generatesan NMS trap 815 for the NMS system which indicates to it that thefallback setup has been completed. The NMS system stores thatinformation in its data base and changes the displays showing thenetwork accordingly.

It is important to note here that as long as the RF link is operativeand RF modem 106 is active, the routing of packets to hosts 108connected to RF modem 106 does not change. Consequently, when the RFlink is operative, RF modem 106 does not produce RIP packets. However,as long as the RF link is inoperative, RF modem 106 periodicallyproduces RIP packets in the fashion of other routers and the RIP packetsare sent to modem pool 135 and router 101 as just described. Thefallback routing for the IP addresses belonging to the hosts 108continues as long as RF modem 106 continues to send RIP packets. If RFmodem 106 senses that the RF link is again operative, RF modem 106 sendsanother trigger RIP packet with its routing table, but with the metricfor reaching the hosts 108 set so high that modem pool 135 and router101 remove the entries for the hosts' IP addresses. Thereupon, RF modem106 ceases sending RIP packets. If RF modem simply ceases sending RIPpackets, for example because a user has turned it off, the entries forthe hosts' IP addresses are removed from the routers in the mannerdescribed in the discussion of the RIP protocol above.

Reusable IP Addresses for RF Modems 106: FIG. 11

As mentioned above, a major goal in the design of cable data network 100is reducing the number of IP addresses required for the cable datanetwork. One technique used to achieve this goal is giving all RF modems106 in a network the same reusable IP address in the LANs 133 to whichthe hosts 108 for which RF modem 106 is the router are attached. This ispossible because RF modem 106's IP address in LAN 133 is used only byhosts 108 attached to LAN 133; IP packets sent to RF modem 106 fromother hosts are sent to IP address 214(a) in network D 212, which isprovided by modem pool 135. Since RF modem 106's IP address in LAN 133is not visible outside LAN 133, the IP address can be the same in allLAN 133 s. As indicated in the discussion of setting up a session above,RF modem 106 receives its IP address in LAN 133 in the DHCPOFFER packetthat contains the IP addresses for its hosts 108 and RF modem 106's<channel,pipe,link ID> triple. The savings of IP addresses made possibleby this technique are significant. For example, many LANs 133 will be inprivate households and will have only a single PC as a host 108. Boththe PC and RF modem 106 must have an IP address on LAN 133. It shouldfurther be noted that because reusable IP address 117 is used onlywithin the LANs 133 connected to RF modem 106, there is no need that iteven be an IP address in the address domain of cable data network 100.

Conclusion

The foregoing Detailed Description has disclosed to those skilled in therelevant arts how to make and use a cable data network which is fullyintegrated into the Internet, which takes advantage of the bidirectionalnature of the telephone system to establish a control path between thehead end of the cable data network and the RF modems attached to theCATV cable and to provide an alternate path for data being sent to hostsattached to the RF modem in case of failure of the RF link, whichdynamically assigns IP addresses to hosts and link addresses to the RFmodems, which employs the RF modems as routers, and which saves IPaddresses by reusing the IP addresses of RF modems in the LANs to whichthey are attached.

While the Detailed Description presents the best mode presently known tothe inventors of implementing the cable data network, it will beimmediately apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts that theprinciples used to implement the cable data network may be employed inmany other circumstances. For example, the RF link may be replaced byany unidirectional link and the telephone line may be replaced by anybidirectional link that is independent of the RF link. Similarly, theLAN that connects the RF modem to the hosts may be replaced by anymedium which provides a bidirectional connection between RF modem andhosts.

Moreover, the techniques described herein for dynamically assigning IPaddresses to hosts will work with any kind of logical network addresses,including, for example, virtual circuit numbers. Similarly, thetechniques described for dynamically assigning <channel,pipe,linkID>triples to RF modems can be used equally well to dynamically assign anykind of link-level address. The techniques will also work with anytechnique for subdividing the bandwidth of the unidirectional connectionamong a number of modems.

Finally, the TCP/IP protocols employed in the preferred embodiment maybe replaced by any other protocols which have the same effect. Inparticular, the DHCP protocol may be replaced by any protocol which canbe used for dynamic assignment of logical network addresses, the RIPprotocol may be replaced by any protocol which communicates changes inroutings to routers, and the SNMP protocol may be replaced by any kindof network management protocol.

The foregoing being the case, the Detailed Description is to beunderstood as being illustrative and not restrictive and the scope ofthe invention claimed herein is to be determined not by the DetailedDescription but rather by the attached claims as interpreted with thefull breadth permitted under the patent laws.

1. A method employed in a RF modem in dynamic assignment of a linkaddress on a RF connection, the RF connection connecting the RF modemwith a head end, the link address being used by the head end forforwarding of information from the head end through the RF modem to atleast one host that is connected to the RF modem, the method comprisingthe steps performed in the RF modem of: receiving the link address, thelink address being assigned by the head end; selecting, based upon thelink address, a message that is carried on the RF connection to beforwarded to the at least one host, wherein the link address comprisesan identifier for a frequency in the RF connection, the messages beingcarried on the RF connection in a RF channel associated with thefrequency; and forwarding the selected message to the at least one host.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the link address further comprises anidentifier for a plurality of time periods, the message being carried onthe RF connection in the RF channel during at least one time period ofthe plurality of time periods.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein eachtime period of the plurality of time periods is relative to the start ofa frame that is repetitively transmitted on the RF channel.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the link address further comprises anidentifier that is matched with information in a header of the messagebefore the message is forwarded to the at least one host.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the link address further comprises an identifierthat is matched with information in a header of the message before themessage is forwarded to the at least one host.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising the steps of: determining that the forwarding ofinformation from the head end through the RF modem to the at least onehost has terminated; and releasing the link address to the head endresponsive to determining that the forwarding of information hasterminated.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the releasing step furthercomprises sending a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) packetfrom the RF modem to the head end.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thelink address is received over a bidirectional link during the receivingstep.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the bidirectional link is a PSTN(Public Switched Telephone Network) link that is different from the RFconnection.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the received link addressis received in a DHCP packet.
 11. An apparatus for obtaining a dynamicassignment of a link address in a RF modem, the RF modem connected to ahead end over a RF connection, the link address being used by the headend for forwarding of information from the head end through the RF modemto at least one host that is connected to the RF modem, the apparatuscomprising: logic configured to receive the link address, the linkaddress being assigned by the head end; logic configured to select,based upon the link address, a message that is carried on the RFconnection to be forwarded to the at least one host, wherein the linkaddress comprises an identifier for a frequency in the RF connection,the messages being carried on the RF connection in a RF channelassociated with the frequency; and logic configured to forward theselected message to the at least one host.
 12. The apparatus of claim11, wherein the link address further comprises an identifier for aplurality of time periods, the message being carried on the RFconnection in the RF channel during at least one time period of theplurality of time periods.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein each timeperiod of the plurality of time periods is relative to the start of aframe that is repetitively transmitted on the RF channel.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the link address further comprises anidentifier that is matched with information in a header of the messagebefore the message is forwarded to the at least one host.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein the link address further comprises anidentifier that is matched with information in a header of the messagebefore the message is forwarded to the at least one host.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 11, further comprising: logic configured to determinethat the forwarding of information from the head end through the RFmodem to the at least one host has terminated; and logic configured torelease the link address to the head end responsive to determining thatthe forwarding of information has terminated.
 17. The apparatus of claim16, wherein the logic configured to release the link address furthercomprises logic configured to send a DHCP packet from the RF modem tothe head end.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the logicconfigured to receive the link address is further configured to receivethe link address over a bidirectional link.
 19. The apparatus of claim18, wherein the bidirectional link is a PSTN link that is different fromthe RF connection.
 20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the logicconfigured to receive a link address is further configured to receivethe link address in a DHCP packet.